Dirty Dancing
by sakshi.chopra
Summary: A twist to one of my favorite movie stories. Klaus is the lead dancer/director from hell and Caroline is the simple innocent new girl to join his high rolling team. Sparks are just meant to fly, and not just the lemony kind. AH/AU. K for now, M for later. I wish I was better at summaries :) [Klaus & Caroline F]
1. Chapter 1

**This is my very first foray into TVD fanfiction. I have not read the books. I saw the show. And I am completely intrigued with Klaus, even if he is a royal jerk most of the time. I hope you like it. Please share your thoughts/suggestions/critique :) :)**

**I have only written for True Blood and Sookie Stackhouse VM till yet and hope I can do justice to the lovely characters in this fandom. You can also find me at my wordpress site - sakshichopra dot wordpress dot com**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Vampire Diaries or any of the characters. **

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><p><strong>Caroline's Point Of View<strong>

"BLOODY HELL!"

An angry voice rang around the whole studio and I froze with my hand still on the door knob of the half open door.

"WHY CAN'T I GET ONE BLOODY DECENT GIRL THAT CAN MOVE TO THE FUCKING BEAT HERE!?"

Something crashed in my line of sight, coming from the left side of the studio that I had yet to see. A lamp. An expensive crystal lamp, now shattered into a thousand small pieces. What was something like that even doing in a place like this?

"Planning on coming inside anytime soon?" drawled a statuesque blond, standing near the door, a little to my right.

I nodded stupidly and slipped in, as inconspicuously as possible, and shut the door behind me.

"Bekah! Get the floor cleaned."

I was still looking at the blonde when she rolled her eyes at the order and moved her butt off the wall with a sigh. Apparently, this was the Bekah the angry man was ordering about. And she was not too happy about being given the cleaning chore.

"Oh yes by all means move at a glacial pace! I am going to live forever!" came the angry exasperated voice again from my left. I gulped and looked over. There was a group of people, dancers by the looks of them, standing in my way, blocking the source of the angry voice. I craned my neck and saw dark gold curls shining in the bright lights, a portion of a shoulder, clad in black and some kind of black bead and metal necklaces peeking through the collar.

"Take a break till the glass is cleaned up. I don't want more emergency room visits."

The crowd around him started to disperse. When I had a clear shot, his back was turned towards me. Another scared boy stood in front of him, waiting, as he went through a clipboard.

He wore a close fitted black silk shirt, slightly translucent in the bright lights over sinfully fitted dark trousers. He must be around a six feet tall. Had a lithe frame, a perfect dancer's body. Despite the rudeness spewing off his mouth, I really wanted to look at his face.

So I was still gawking at his back when someone cleared their throat behind me and huffed in annoyance.

"A little help here? If you're not too busy?"

I turned back, to see Bekah on her knees with a dustpan and a completely useless looking swishy duster in her hands, trying to move the heavy glass shards into the dustpan. Clearly, this one was not used to menial work like cleaning up your own mess.

I quickly went over and knelt next to her.

"That is too light to pick up all of the glass." I pointed to her french-maid prop like duster, earning me a scowl from her. "Do you have a broom or something?"

Still scowling, she got on her feet and gestured for me to follow. She led me to a door in the far corner of the studio. There was a storeroom behind the door, stocking electronic equipment, a few light chairs, cleaning supplies and other odds and ends. There was a sturdy broom resting by a huge trashcan. I picked it up and went back to the studio room. Bekah followed.

I efficiently swept all the shards together and knelt again to sweep the heap into the dustpan. Just when I stood up with the shards in one hand and the broom in the other, I had the weird feeling of someone staring at my backside. Before I could turn around and confirm, THE voice, the one I was learning to dislike, came up from behind me, a bit too close for comfort, making me jump and drop the glass on the floor again.

"Who the hell is this?"

"I am just..." I turned with my angry retort hot on the tip of my tongue. The man was out of his mind if he thought he could bully me around. I wasn't one of his minions. I just came for an interview. I was helping cleaning up his mess out of the goodness of my heart. I didn't deserve to be sneered at.

However, my retort promptly died on my lips.

Lips.

That's what I saw first. His lips. Red, much too dark for a man not wearing lipstick, and pouty and kissable and...My eyes trailed up. Strong straight nose. Glittering blue green eyes. Eyes, that weren't even on me to trap me. He was saying something to Bekah. She must have said something he didn't like because he huffed, turned on his heal and sauntered off.

Bekah clicked her fingers in my face to bring me out of my stupid haze. I hurriedly turned to face her.

"You dropped the glass again."

"Umm sorry. I'll..."

"Never mind. I got it!" she sighed, "Who are you again?"

She took the broom from me and started sweeping the glass.

"My name is Caroline Forbes. I have an appointment with Rebekah Mikaelson. I'm here to interview for the assistant position you have?"

"Oh yes. We talked on the phone. I'm Rebekah Mikaelson. Would you mind waiting a bit? We are awfully busy right now." she gestured towards a set of benches along the wall towards my right. "I am sorry for the delay." she added as an afterthought, not looking or sounding sorry at all.

I needed this job. It was the only opening that matched my skill set. So even if I didn't much like Rebekah Mikaelson's social etiquette and wanted to walk out, I pulled on my big girl panties, smiled politely and went to sit on the bench. I could wait if it meant I could make next month's rent on time.

The shiny wooden floor was all cleaned up and the group on the dance floor started dispersing, making room on the main floor.

Suddenly, the bright lights dimmed, leaving only some kind of spotlighting in the middle of the floor. A song started playing, echoing around the huge room, drowning all other sounds, 'Mi Confession by Gotan Project', one of the most sensual Spanish music around.

HE stepped in the middle of the lighted area, posture taught, chin up, eyes serious, lips curled in a sexy smirk, and put out his hand. A tall brunette stepped out from the group of other dancers, and joined him for the dance. They started with the basic salsa step, one step forward, one back, then two steps forward, two back. He said something to the girl and she straightened her neck, making her chin parallel to the floor. He put a hand on her waist, took a step back and twirled her around once, paused to look in her eyes and turned her again twice, and held out his hand to pause her again.

There was something about the way he moved. Each and every movement precisely accurate, performed with easy sensuality.

The girl stumbled at the second pause and stepped on his foot. He closed his eyes, his jaw tight, and twirled two fingers in the air. The song stopped and started from the beginning. They started dancing again.

She was good too. I could tell. But her partner dominated the dance and the stage without even breaking sweat.

To her credit, the girl managed to dance for a minute under his chilly glare before loosing foothold again.

"STOP! Turn off the music" he yelled, making me jump in my bones, "Start from the beginning Haley."

"With.. without the music?" she stammered.

"Yes without the music. Come here." she stepped into his arms as they took the starting stance again, "One foot forward, one back, then two forward, two back." He turned her, "Look at me! Look before the second turn..." she turned twice, managing to control her forward momentum enough to pause between her turns as he guided her expertly through the movements, " now step, one forward, one back, turn...Good. Now lift..."

She missed her footing, falling into him. He caught hold of her upper arms and held her away, took a few steps back and pinched his nose.

Then walked over to her again, telling her to start over.

"He's usually in a better mood than this." Rebekah whispered, coming to sit with me, "His lead dancer sustained a serious injury and he is trying to find a replacement."

My eyes were still transfixed on the couple dancing in the spotlight. To be honest, my eyes were transfixed on him. The girl missed grabbing his hand during another lift and lost her balance. Again.

"I see the search is not going too well." I whispered back, "Is it for a special sequence?"

"The spring recital. Broadway. We are doing an interpretation of the classic movie Dirty Dancing."

My eyebrows went up. "Broadway as in, in NYC?"

Rebekah shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal.

And now HE was yelling. Again.

"If only Nik was not such an arse to them! He's been at it for three hours without rest. The dancers wouldn't be half bad if they weren't all cowering under his temper tantrums. You'll have your hands full if you get the job."

Wait just a minute! Was she saying what I thought she was saying?

"My hands full for the spring show you mean?"

"Oh no honey! The show would turn out to be fine. Nik is the best at what he does. We've been doing this thing for years. Our team is built for this kind of heavy lifting." she gave me a saccharine smile, "I meant the job itself. The last girl, Nik's personal assistant, lasted a week before running home one evening, crying and whatnot! The one before that, lasted three days. Don't get me started about the one who was sitting in this very bench when Tatiana broke her ankle."

"You mean...I mean, the assistant job...It's not for you?"

"Oh no. Not me. It's for Nik. If you get the job." she smiled, again the overtly fake saccharine smile, as if she was already envisioning me running from here, crying and whatnot.

I gulped. "Of course." I said and gave her a weak smile in return.

I turned to look at him again.

So there was a name that went with the angry yelling voice.

Nik.

For now, the Haley girl was doing fine. He dipped her body and she folded under his expert hands. Those hands that ran across her collarbones and grasped her shoulders intimately to turn her and pull her back flush against his front. Haley stood on one tip toe, her other leg curled around his thigh and tilted her face to look at him, at his face, tangling one hand in his hair, as he brought his lips inches from her exposed neck.

I didn't want to think why I suddenly felt hot all over.

He didn't quite touch his lips to her skin. But Haley closed her eyes for a second as if they were doing the horizontal version of the dance. When she opened her eyes to look at him, I couldn't help but search his face for his answering look.

He turned right then, breaking the moment and lifted the lithe girl in one arm to finish the move. They stopped and parted from their half embrace.

And I started breathing again.

"Take a break love. And do your cool down. We'll continue tomorrow." he said, not quite looking at Haley. She however, couldn't tear her eyes off him.

He went towards the single stool in front of the floor to ceiling mirrored wall and stood there giving me quite a view in the mirror. He picked up a water bottle and swallowed a sip.

I could tell that this job, if I got it, was going to bring me nothing but trouble. Because I knew he drank exactly three mouthfuls of water and the third one sat in his mouth for a bit before he downed it. I knew this because I couldn't turn my eyes away from his adam's apple. Not the kind of healthy interest one should take in one's future boss.

Rebekah cleared her throat to get my attention.

"I guess he's free for the interview then. Follow me."

She started towards the left side of the studio, the part where the other dancers were congregated, and pushed open a door on the far end. No one paid us any attention as she led me into a passage way of sorts. I could see doors leading towards the locker rooms and showers, dressing rooms and such on my left and right, marked by small metal plates on them. At the end of the passage, stood a dark wood door without a marker plate. Rebekah opened the door and ushered me in.

It was an office. Neat and tidy, with a heavy dark wood desk in the middle. I didn't get the chance to look around properly because just as Rebekah sat me in a chair across the desk, the door flew open and in walked Nik, water bottle still in hand.

"Did you pre interview her?"

"No" Rebekah answered. "But I did the background checks and everything is per requirement."

"I think I'll be the judge to that. Considering the last two you hired weren't exactly employees of the month material!"

"Oh like the others were any better. I checked out her details and they looked fine."

"Fine to you maybe...But..."

Ok this was just getting rude! I was sitting right there. Mr Manners himself had yet to look at me. Rebekah forgot all about me. And I felt just weird.

"Ummm excuse me? Rebekah? Nik? Whatever you need to know about me, I'm right here to answer your questions. I believe that's what face to face interviews are for." I interjected, smiling as politely as possible at the two.

Both of them turned to look at me. Nik, for the first time.

I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.

"That's your resume I suppose?" he nodded towards the file folder I was carrying.

I handed it over to him. He started turning the pages of my file.

"Caroline Forbes." he said, with an odd lilt to his voice. I didn't know whether it was a question or a statement or what exactly did he mean by just stating my name like that. "Tell me about the kind of work you have been doing."

I could do this. I was good at this. I was a confident, educated, grown up girl. Woman. I was going to nail this!

"I did a two month summer internship at the Mystic Falls Mayor's office, that is my hometown, working as a junior assistant intern. Following my graduation, I was hired full time as the Mayor's junior assistant. I worked up to be her assistant in two years and worked for her for another six months. I have hosted and planned a number of events in my hometown, including fund raisers for school, dances and our own senior prom. I strive perfection in everything I do. I am organized, I work very hard and can hold my own in the middle of a crisis. If you hire me as your assistant, I'll make sure you won't regret your decision."

All through my practiced speech, Nik just stared at me with a blank look on his face. I could have squirmed if I hadn't dealt with a lot of bullies in my time. I knew he was testing my patience. I couldn't fail.

He looked through my educational certificates, my letters of reference, and credits.

"Why do you want to be a personal assistant? Do you like being tied to another person's schedule day in and day out?"

"I don't look at it that way. I am not tied to them. I am helping them organize their work and schedules. Plus I am obsessed with order and straightening things out. I like doing this. It made me very successful at this kind of job."

"Hmmm. Do you have any kind of experience with the entertainment industry?"

"Does being in the event planning committee for Miss Mystic Falls count?"

I detected a smile starting to form on his lips. A chink in his perfect poker face. He hid it well though.

"If you liked it so well, what made you leave the mayor's job?"

I knew this question would come. That didn't mean I was prepared to give him my reasons.

"Personal reasons."

"And then you moved to LA? Right after you left that job. Why?"

"As I told you, personal reasons I don't wish to discuss."

"Miss Forbes you do realize my need to know of these personal reasons. How can I be sure that one day you won't just up and leave my employment for another set of perfectly innocuous personal reasons, leaving me in a lurch? You left your hometown. It won't take much for you to leave a strange new city that is famous for not being particularly warm to new comers."

"Then sign a binding contract if that would help you trust me more. I am not unprofessional. You can check out my references. The mayor's office had a three months notice before I left. I wrapped up all my tasks and trained my replacement. I may be new to this city, but I assure you that I am not a runner. I came here to make something of my life. And I won't fail."

I caught a slight twitch in his eye at my response, another chink, a movement that showed I had gotten across to him. That my words affected him in some way. He silently regarded me and I didn't flinch.

Then he blinked and opened a desk drawer, without taking his eyes off me. He pulled out a manila envelope and slid it across to me.

"This is a first draft employee contract, benefits and other forms. Go through it. Fill up the employment forms if the contract is agreeable, sign it and come back tomorrow, 8:00 AM sharp."

Wait what?

"I'd like you to remember that I do not appreciate tardiness of any form around me. So don't be late. And email or text me a confirmation tonight if you are coming tomorrow."

"Wait! You are hiring me?"

He cocked an eyebrow.

"Only if you agree to the contract Miss Forbes."

O Thank Heavens!

"O ok... Great. This is great." I exhaled, relieved. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Mr...?"

"Niklaus Mikaelson." he held out his hand to shake and smirked, the first true expression on his face. "You can call me Klaus. It was nice to meet you Miss Forbes."

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><p><strong>So what do you think?<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reviewing/following my story...I hope you like where I take this. I love Suggestions/Scolds/feedback so don't be measly and lemme know what you think :)**

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><p>The strap of my favorite sandals broke when I was halfway down the road to the bus stop near my new rented apartment. I had to go back home to change my shoes. So I missed my bus.<p>

I missed a bus, for the first time in my life, on the first day of my cool new job. Google maps on my phone showed I would be an hour late if I waited for the next bus. So even before I made a penny out of being Mr Niklaus Mikaelson's personal assistant, I was spending a cringe worthy number of dollars on a radio cab to work. Such is life!

But I put on my brave smile and decided I'll not be bothered by anything life threw at me that day.

Turned out, I shouldn't have thrown that challenge to life first thing in the morning!

My outrageously pricey cab got stuck in one of LA's famous traffic jams, and dropped me off a whooping ten minutes after eight, _that is ten minutes too late_, to Rebekah Mikaelson's Arts Center, Hollywood Blvd, or R-MAC as everyone affectionately called it.

Rebekah was already in, fiddling with the music system in the corner. The cleaning lady was cleaning the glass wall. But my traitorous eyes found him the moment I entered. _Entwined in an intimate embrace with Haley, the not so good dancer!_

My heart skipped a beat right when it took a nose dive towards my stomach, which was ready to churn and hurl my hasty morning breakfast, at the scene in front of me. I really wasn't having a good morning.

"Much better than yesterday love! But still not good enough. Frankly I'm getting tired of this charade." Klaus said with a blank face and an even voice and pulled Haley's hands away from himself. Her face dropped. "Rebekah, you're supposed to come up with actual options for me. What is wrong with you?"

"And you're supposed to train them, _make _them good enough for the show, not whine all day!" Rebekah retorted, without even turning towards him.

Klaus's eyes flashed with anger.

"My office. Right now." He half growled and walked towards the door towards the back rooms. Rebekah rolled her eyes and started after him. He was through the door when he called out before the door shut, "You too Caroline!"

Uh oh! He saw me! He must know I wasn't on time!

I just hoped he didn't chew me out for being late. I didn't want a disciplinary meeting with the boss added to my already lovely morning.

Rebekah was in the room when I reached the unmarked door, '_getting chewed out_'. I waited a while to give the poor girl some privacy and gird my mental lions before I knocked. Klaus opened and bowed for me before gesturing for me to go inside.

"Look who decided to join us this morning." he mock smiled, "Caroline my dear, please come in. Did your alarm clock fall on your head and break this morning?"

_Don't lash out...Don't talk back...Don't lash out...Don't talk back..._

"I am sorry. It...It won't happen again."

"What?" he gasped, "No excuses?"

_Asshole!_

"Would the excuse matter?" I smiled sweetly.

He looked as if he didn't expect that response.

"No. Not particularly. It's just fun to listen to the lame things people come up with under duress. You'd be surprised how not original they can be." he replied with a straight face that had me confused whether he was being serious or just an ass.

I went with him being just an ass and maintained my own straight face.

"I suppose we are about done here." Rebekah interjected, impatiently tapping her heels, "I have things to do, brother! I'll take your leave."

Brother? They were siblings?

Klaus ignored the retreating Rebekah and went to sit in his leather chair behind his desk.

"You brought the filled in paperwork I suppose?"

Jesus H Roosevelt Christ!

I _knew _I was forgetting something when I left home for the second time, after changing my shoes! Couldn't it have been something less important? Like my wallet or cellphone?

"Ummm...Did I have to turn it in today?"

He cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Assuming you wanted the job? Yes of course!"

I shifted on my uncomfortable heels (because I had broken the comfortable ones) trying my damnedest to not look like a deer caught in the headlights of a passing truck. I decided to stick to as much truth as possible because _one_, I was a shitty liar and _two_, yeah one covered it all.

"Well I was supposed to get a copy of my ID notarized. Between yesterday evening and today morning, I didn't get the time to get it done. I thought I'll turn in everything together?"

Klaus didn't look impressed.

"And?"

"And what?"

He rolled his eyes in exasperation as he typed something in his laptop.

"Well when can you get them completed?" he asked, getting a little more irritated than he already looked.

"I can bring the other papers tomorrow. I'll submit the ID as soon as I can afterwards."

He stopped typing and gave me a look I couldn't understand.

"I thought we were doing away with excuses today?"

"It's not... an excuse..."

"It's not? Well then get everything sorted in the half hour of your lunch today."

"But I..."

"Moving things along..." he cut me off with a wave of his hand and resumed his typing. Somehow I breathed easier when he was not looking at me. And this had absolutely nothing to do with his deep ocean blue eyes either.

"First, get me a no foam skimmed latte with an extra shot, no sugar, from this charming coffee shop a block from here and I usually want it first thing in the morning if I am not having English Breakfast Tea, _black _mind you, again without any sugar."

"What, right now?"

"Then I need you to go get the roasters from Stephan and see everyone we need this week is informed a day in advance." he continued the monologue calmly, completely ignoring me and my unimportant questions. "Make sure today's on-call artists are here when we start rehearsals. Rebekah has the potential lead dancers list, a bloody short one by the way, which you will need to go through and see which ones make sense for us, so that I don't have to waste my time _taking out the trash_, so to speak. I believe there are some I haven't auditioned yet."

_Wow!_

"But what am I..."

"Get in touch with Marcel. Fix some time with him in the next two days for a set planning discussion."

_Would he shut up for one second?_

"Klaus?"

"And can you check if the dealership has procured my car or not."

"Which dealer...?"

"Oh yes and call Katherine Petrova's office and confirm my lunch meeeting..."

"KLAUS!?"

He finally paused to stare at me, surprised at the yelling no doubt.

"Why are you shouting Caroline?" he asked, completely clueless_. Really?_

"I am sorry. But...Can I..." I cleared my suddenly constricted throat, "Can I get a notepad or something to write everything down? Please?"

"Shouldn't you have started _noting _already?" he frowned.

"Ummm I just came in and..."

"An entire ten minutes late. Yes I know." he said coldly.

I gulped to wet my dry throat.

"I...umm...I'm sorry. But as I was saying, I just came in. So I'll just uhh...find something to write on...hopefully somewhere here..."

I frantically dug into my huge bag for some paper and pen, anything to write on actually and thankfully found my planner and a pencil sticking in it. He was absolutely silent, glaring impatiently at me, as I fumbled with the small diary to open it at the correct page and start writing. I waited with the pencil ready, for him to start speaking again.

He took his time to start speaking again, waiting exactly till I was sufficiently self conscious under his glare.

Lesson number one? New boss didn't like to wait, or repeat himself, or excuses, or questions.

Lesson number two? I was stuck with a douch!

Klaus left for some meeting directly after our meeting. I sighed and trudged out of his office, _in my uncomfortable heels_, in search of this Stephan...and Rebekah...Then that Marcel...And to find someone who knew Katherine Petrova's contact number.

I had a feeling this would be a long-ass-day.

...

Ever had that nagging feeling that everyone around was judging you and I dunno, maybe waiting for you to fall on your ass or something? I had that distinct feeling as I went about my day around the studio, trying not to come in anyone's way as much as I could.

But apart from that one nag, there was an energetic undercurrent to everything around there, the music, the laughter, the chatting groups, the dancing. The dancing part was my favorite. So many different styles, coming to life under one roof, being performed and learnt with an eager passion and a fierce ease. It was also the only thing that eased my discomfort and didn't let me feel out of place. I could identify with that kind of energy and as long as that held, I belonged here just as much as the others.

I still didn't know anyone other than Rebakah and Klaus. Klaus was not in the building and Rebekah had made it clear she didn't want me hanging at her coat tails! Her words not mine. So I decided to take things in my own hands and start getting around to know the people I would be working with. I started with a little bit of unobtrusive recon.

I learnt that they had a number of choreographers, who were busy with different groups of dancers in different corners of the huge main hall. They kept to themselves and mostly ignored me. The dancers were different. They had their own groups and little hierarchies, like a mini society thing going on. Having dealt with that kind of thing since child hood, I quickly recognized that Haley was some kind of the alpha mean girl, complete with two sidekicks I didn't know the names of, yet. Most of the other girls seemed to flock to these three, apparently trying to be seen with the 'cool kids'. Then there was another, less prominent group with a few less mean looking girls. They were all dressed in little white ballerina dresses, albeit over comfortable leggings or yoga pants. They didn't look interested in going anywhere near Haley. They had separate dance routines than the other group and were keeping to themselves.

The guys were just circling in or around one of the two subtle groups.

I watched them all carefully, trying to find where I could best fit in, while I made a gazillion calls to dancers, backup artists, offices of set designers and such. My phone was burning hot on my ear as I spoke with it charging side by side.

In the middle of waiting for Marcel's assistant Diego to confirm a time for me, my phone tinged with a new message. From Klaus. Just as I was getting to open it, Diego came back on the line and asked me if 11:00 AM tomorrow suited me. Belatedly, I realized that I didn't know what Klaus was doing at 11:00 AM tomorrow, or at any other time for that matter, and hastily came up with the usual spiel of _'I'll-confirm-with-the-boss-and-let-you-know-as-soon-as'_. I hung up and checked the message.

_'Did you check for my car?'_

"_Shit_!" I cursed under my breath. I had completely forgotten about the car. Plus I still didn't know what dealership he was talking about. Before I could get hold of Rebekah to ask about it, I got a call from Klaus.

"Hello?"

"Did you check with the dealership yet?"

Yeah! No hi. No hello. Straight to the point.

"Umm no. Which one should I call?"

There was a pause on the line and I mused if he was trying to glare at me through the phone or something.

"You did not ask me in the morning. Or anytime afterwards."

"I...I thought to ask Rebekah."

"Are you Rebekah's assistant?"

"No."

"And did you get time to ask her anyways?"

"No I was just..."

"Then did you think about asking me perhaps?"

_Like he gave me a chance to have a conversation this morning, or right now! Could the man be any more annoying?_

"I didn't get the chance to ask you and you were in meetings so I couldn't call you."

"A text message then?"

_Urghhhh!_

"You'll have to hang up in that case. So that I could text you for further instruction!" I replied tartly, before even thinking about what I was saying.

The call abruptly ended. I stared at my phone in shocked exasperation.

Only to ting five seconds later with a text message from the boss. With the address and contact information for an Audi dealership in town. I didn't know why, but I had this sudden urge to stomp my foot and hit something.

Instead, I made the supreme effort to calm down and hit the call button on my phone to make the call to the Audi dealership.

...

"Ummm Devina? Is Devina here?"

The ballerinas all turned to me at once, as if they had choreographed that move. One of them, the prettiest and tiniest one, stepped forward and nodded with a slight smile.

"I am Devina. You're the new assistant right? Carol...?"

"Caroline." I smiled back and held out a hand to shake. Her smile widened and she shook my hand firmly. "You are really good on your toes Devina. Done that since you were a toddler I guess?"

"Pretty much." she shrugged, a little embarrassed now, " Thank you Caroline. So you know Ballet?"

"Oh I got some training when I was a kid. Haven't worn my ballet shoes for years now. But I used to love it. Hey by the way, the roaster here states you are needed tonight for some kind of audition. You'll be here right?"

"Oh." she scrunched her brows, "I'll have to talk to my mom. But yeah ok, I'll tell her and let you know."

"Alrighty then." I grinned and put a yellow dot against her name on my list, "I'll catch you later."

"Ok." she grinned back and turned to her practice again.

I liked this one.

...

My first day went by sooner than I could breath. Apart from the few confrontations with boss-man, everything else was as smooth as could be expected from a new workplace. It was 7:00 PM and the only people still around were Devina's group, their instructor Camille, Rebekah and me.

The ballerinas were working on a few disjointed steps. Rebekah looked like texting on her phone. I was sitting apart from everyone, without my shoes on, just resting my feet and waiting for Klaus's OK to go home. Earlier, he had asked me to wait for him before I left for home tonight. I didn't know why he wanted me to stay so late, but I guessed it was still my first day and I had to listen to him anyways.

Devina called out my name and gestured for me to join them. I left my heels by the bench and went over to see what she wanted.

"Hey Caroline! Want to put on the shoes again?" she grinned.

"Shoes?" I looked back at my own sandals resting by the wall and turned back to her, confused, "I was just resting my feet."

"Ohhh no no. Not those shoes." she shook her head excitedly, "these ones..." and waved a pair of white satin ballet shoes between us, "They are Camille's. You too look the same size. Want to try them on? Maybe stretch some of those sleeping calves?"

"_Oh!"_

I looked at the shoes and my heart became a little heavy at the amount of emotion the little things whipped up in me. It had been so long. Too long...When I had had to dump them at the back of my closet because...

My hand went out to touch the shoes and feel the soft satin on my fingertips again. Devina shoved them into my hands. I looked at Camille and she just nodded and gave me an encouraging smile. Slowly, I sat down and spread out the laces to put my feet through. They fit perfectly. The laces blurred when I was tying them up and I covertly blinked away the wetness in my eyes. A pair of soft hands reached out and took the ribbons, to tie them firmly around my feet. Another pair of hands helped me up.

"You know how to stretch right?" Camille asked with her professional instructor voice.

I nodded and started the lunges and stretches. It felt good to be bending this way again. My body was cramped, muscles rigid with disuse. But I could still move. The others turned back to their practice and left me alone to get re-acquainted with my feet again.

I completed the warm up stretches, just when they broke for water break. Camille sent the girls off to get something to drink and relax for ten minutes and then came to me.

"How do you feel?"

"Not very good. I can hardly keep still on the tip toes."

"That's understandable. Want to try some moves?"

"You'll have to help me. Like a lot." I smiled nervously, "I might fall on my face."

"Don't worry. No one's here to watch you falling anyways. The girls went to the water cooler at the back to gossip." she laughed, and I realized we were indeed alone in the studio. Even Rebekah was no where around.

"Ok." I straightened out my stance, "Can you give me some music?"

She nodded and went at the back of the room. Mozart's Moonlight Sonata gently came on through the speakers. Camille didn't come back into the lighted area, giving me time to get comfortable.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting the music flow through me, fill me, and start moving with me. I crossed my feet, braced my arms in the third position and started swaying gently to the lilt of the piano. As the music swelled, my arms raised themselves, up in the fourth position and I pirouetted once, paused, pirouetted again twice and came back to face myself in the huge mirrors again.

It came back easily, fitted like an old beloved shoe, as if I hadn't ever stopped. I took another calming breath and raised myself on the tip toes for my next pirouette, and the next. The room was half lit, the only sounds being the piano playing on the speakers. That and the sound of my own breathing. For the first time in a long while, I felt one with myself. I felt at peace. I went into the fifth position, and extended my left toe towards the side, taking a turn on my right toe tip. My hair, loose over my shoulders, swung with my turns. My arms ached a little from keeping them in position for so long but I didn't want to stop, knowing very well how it felt to stop. No. I wanted to just go on turning with the music...

A small movement in the mirror caught my eye and shook me out of my trance. I squinted towards it to see what it was, forgot my balance and slipped. I would have gone down and hurt myself bad if a pair of strong arms hadn't caught me, just in the nick of time.

His brilliant blue eyes shone in the spot lights as he looked at me in wonder, his face an open book of emotion I had not seen on him before.

The music was switched off as Camille came forward to ask me if I was alright.

Klaus gently put me on my feet and held my shoulders a second too long, no doubt to make sure I could stand, before stepping back.

"Please tell me you didn't sprain your ankle Caroline." Camille was saying, while Klaus just stared. Then he just turned around and walked towards his office.

So, out of all the moments today, this was the one time when this annoying man decided to keep quite. I sighed and turned to Camille to thank her for the shoes and reassure her that I was fine. _Thanks to Klaus!_


End file.
